Mourning Becomes Electra

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Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle by Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953)[1] .

The original text

The trilogy consists of three linked plays with themes that correspond to those of The Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus. The plays are titled Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted.

The cycle premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932.

Published in Nine plays by Eugene O'Neill, selected by the author. Random House, c1932.

Translations and adaptations

The Haunted was translated into Afrikaans as Die Vervolgdes ("the pursued") and adapted for radio by F.P. van der Merwe in 1948.

Performance history in South Africa

1942: René Ahrenson directed a Spotlight production in the Hofmeyr Theatre, featuring Zoë Randall as Lavinia Mannon. Décor John Wright.

1948: Die Vervolgdes, the Afrikaans translation of The Haunted, broadcast by the SABC as part of a Dramafees ("Drama festival') that ran in from April to June.

1967: Staged by PACT in a production directed by the German director Walter Czaschke , featuring Arthur Hall (Ezra Mannon), Molly Seftel (Christine), Maureen McAllister (Lavinia), Kerry Jordan (Capt. Adam Brant), John Mitchell (Capt. Peter Niles), Madeleine le Roux (Hazel Niles), Siegfried Mynhardt (Seth Beckwith) and Francois Swart (Orin). Decor by Raimond Schoop and costumes by Aubrey Couling.

1985: Presented by the Technikon Pretoria Department of Drama at the Breytenbach Theatre 20-24 August, directed and adapted by René Tredoux.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_Becomes_Electra

Typed SABC text of Die Vervolgdes found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2022.

Trek, 7(9):17, 1942.

PACT theatre programme, 1967.

PACT list, 1972.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

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